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Report: UAE, Iran Reach Accord on Disputed Hormuz Islands
(Defense News) Awad Mustafa - The United Arab Emirates and Iran have reached an agreement on three disputed islands near the Strait of Hormuz after secret talks with the help of the Omani government over the past six months, a high-level UAE source said. "A deal has been reached and finalized on the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. For now, two of the three islands are to return to the UAE while the final agreement for Abu Musa is being ironed out. Iran will retain the sea bed rights around the three islands while the UAE will hold sovereignty over the land." "Oman will grant Iran a strategic location on Ras Musandam mountain, which is a very strategic point overlooking the whole gulf region. In return for Ras Musandam, Oman will receive free gas and oil from Iran once a pipeline is constructed within the coming two years." The strategically located islands are close to the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil chokepoint. The islands were occupied by Iran's Shah Pehlavi just before the declaration in 1971 of the establishment of the UAE.